I was invited to a wedding in Idaho, so I decided to make an almost week long road trip out of it. I flew into Seattle, rented a car, and drove all the way across the State of Washington, then after the wedding had to make my way all the way back to Seattle

I took off from Lake Stevens, Washington around 3:30 AM and was within the National Park border by 6 AM. I checked out the sunrise on hike from the section called Sunrise, and drove through the park to the Paradise area, hiked a bit more, and headed out. I was back in Lake Stevens by 3:30 PM. It was a good day!

Driving down to the park on Chinook Pass Highway in Enumclaw Washington

I took off from Lake Stevens, Washington to explore the Olympic Peninsula (And Olympic National Park) for 2 days, with a motel room for the night in Port Angeles, and returning to Lake Stevens on the 2nd day. Optimally I would have needed more like 5 days! There’s so much to see. But I did see some cool stuff, and enjoyed it, and may go back at some point.

I wanted to see Bend, Oregon again, partially to consider trying to sell photos there at some point, and I also wanted to see Crater Lake. So I took a road trip from the Portland area, got a motel for 2 nights in Bend, and went to Crater Lake after the first night in Bend…well, since I left at 3:30 AM I guess I should say I went during the night.

I’ve been looking forward to crossing South Dakota again ever since I did it in 2010. I forgot how empty it was for much of the state when driving from east to west, but I saw plenty of interesting things in the state, and was glad that I returned.

This was one of those parks I had never heard of until the day I went, but with an annual pass, why not? I was enjoying seeing the big saguaro cacti, which I had never seen in person before, and then the solar halo made the visit that much better!

Sometimes, there’s just not a whole lot to say about a photo that the photo cannot say for itself. I shot this on the Desert Queen Mine Road in Joshua Tree National Park, and I am quite happy with the results. You can see my shots from another trip to the park here.

There are a few truths about Yosemite National Park that are inescapable. First, there’s an enormous number of photos of Yosemite on the internet. Second, I’ve looked at a huge number of them. Also, as you may not realize if you’ve never been to Yosemite, many of the most amazing views in Yosemite are right off the road. Drive up, park, and be in awe. It’s great in many ways, but it also means that getting an original photo in Yosemite can be difficult. And, I have no desire in bringing you a photo that you can easily find elsewhere. That’s no fun for me. I want people to see things they haven’t seen or may not know about. So from Yosemite Valley, to the heights of Glacier Point, I did my best to either scout out views that you don’t normally see, to get creative with my composition, or to do it in the middle of the night! All the while, I wanted to still include some of the iconic landmarks, particularly El Capitan and Half Dome. I am happy with the results, and happy I braved the cold for the night shot.

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